Gods this is embarrassing but, your headphones aren't plugged in
by Don'tblink.Blinkandyou'redead
Summary: Percabeth. AU where Percy's music is blaring all over the bus and Annabeth is the only passenger who bothers to tell him. Cue the high school conviently filled with PJO characters.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a one shot but could turn into a, um, not one shot if that's what people want. Characters all belong to Rick. So yeah, enjoy.**

_UNDER DA SEA. UNDER DA SEA, DARLING IT'S BETTER, DOWN WHERE IT'S WETTER, TAKE IT FROM MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE UP ON..._

"Um, excuse me."  
Percy turned quickly and saw a pretty blonde looking at him from the seat behind, an expression of pity in her stormy grey eyes.  
"Gods, um, this is embarrassing, sorry to bother you and all but your... Your headphones weren't plugged in properly,"  
Percy's cheeks flamed up and he opened his mouth to ask if she'd heard Bear Necessities but one look told him that yep, she'd heard them all: Hakuna Mattata, Bear Necessities: all of them. He pressed pause and sunk down in his seat, most of him dying of embarrassment yet a part of him wishing that he'd been able to get to the end of under the sea before she told him; that was his favourite after all. The remainder of the bus journey was spent in a painful silence, he daren't even look behind him which was a shame because that blonde was _quite_ pretty.

**Three days later.**

Percy's heart sunk in his chest, yet sped up at the same time, something he had never thought possible. He was on his way back from school after a bad bus was crowded, great. And the only seat available was next to HER the girl who had listened to the whole of his Disney playlist and been the only one to mention it to him, the really pretty one who was smiling as she looked down at her phone. Probably at a text her boyfriend had sent her, who was he kidding, what other reason would she be smiling at her phone? A girl like that was bound to have a boyfriend. A really cool one too.  
He slipped into the seat and pretended to look out the window, which didn't work because he was on the isle seat so instead it looked like he was studying her hair. She looked up at him and suddenly he was looking into her eyes. He looked away before she thought he was weird.  
"Aren't you the boy with the obsession with Disney?"  
Nope, too late; she already thought he was weird. Percy tried to stay cool, "yup that's me," she smiled at him.  
"My name's Annabeth,"  
"Mine's Per" _DA SEAWEED IS ALWAYS GREENER, IN SOMEBODY ELSES LAKE, YOU DREAM ABOUT..._ Percy answered his phone wishing he'd changed the ringtone, praying that Annabeth would have gotten off the bus by the time it finished: or that the bus would crash or something. Anything.  
"Hi Mum, yeah, fine... Sure... Why don't we just... Oh, ok then, will do... Love you... Bye."  
No such luck, the bus was still intact and Annabeth was still staring at him. "Percy," he said, "my name's Percy."  
She laughed and rummaged through her school bag until she found a piece of paper and wrote something down on it. Then she stood up, gave the paper to him and got off the bus, barely pausing to wait for the door to open. As soon as she was out of sight Percy unfolded the piece of paper, it was a phone number, nothing more. Percy's shoulder slumped, he was hoping at least a couple of words or something but no. Plus, it was a landline-probably not even hers. She wouldn't give him her actual number if she had a boyfriend anyway. He could give up on that one.  
When he got home he went straight to his room to wallow in his own inability to ever look cool, particularly in front of girls. He switched the light on and was suddenly grabbed from behind in a bear hug.  
"Jason Grace, you have a nerve turning up here again." He said without bothering to turn round. "What brings you here? Good news, bad?"  
"Nope, there just wasn't any food left in my house." On this the two boys laughed and did what Percy still thought was the coolest handshake in the world.  
Percy thew his bag across the room where it's entire contents spilled all over the floor, books, food, everything.  
"So what's the news Jackson? "  
"Nothing really Grace, same old, same old."  
"Come on," Jason spun round on his wheely chair. "There must be something, anything. A girl maybe?" Percy hesitated for no more than a second to shake his head but it was enough. "Who? How did you meet? When did you meet? What does she look like? Do I know her?" Percy threw a pillow at Jason, missing by a mile.  
"What does it matter to you?"  
"Hey, no fair, I told you about Piper."  
Percy snorted. "Only after you'd been going out for months!"  
"Pft, details." Jason waved his hand impatiently. "Spill." So Percy reluctantly began to tell the story of the bus, the music and the incredibly cute looking girl who had laughed at or with him, Percy wasn't sure which. "Is that it? Is that all? You're not even going out with her or anything, you just sat next to her once and made a fool of yourself. Twice."  
"She gave me a number?" Percy said, unfolding it and suddenly Jason wasn't bored anymore, he jumped up and grabbed the piece of paper from Percy's hand. Next he went to the desk and got his phone before dialling the number on the paper.  
"Go on, call it," Jason waved he phone in front of Percy; trying to tempt him but Percy wasn't going for it.  
"What if she's got a boyfriend, then what?"  
"Then she wouldn't have given you her number idiot!"  
"But what if..." Percy gave in. Besides, a part of him wanted to call up Annabeth, quite a big part of him too.

*ring ring! ring ring*

"Hello, who is it?" Annabeth's cheery voice answered the phone and suddenly Percy felt sick. What was he thinking?  
"Um sorry." He said, putting on a ridiculous accent. "Wrong number," there was a pause on the other end of the line.  
"Oh, right. Ok."  
"Goodbye then," Jason was killing himself laughing on the floor and Percy was barley holding it together himself.  
"Wait, before you go." Jason sat up as Annabeth's voice came though.  
"Yes?"  
"Is that, is that Disney boy? Um... Percy?" Percy's shoulders slumped, he'd been found out.  
"How did you," he paused and then reverted back to his normal tone of voice, "How did you know it was me?"  
"Well, you sounded just like Sebastian in The Little Mermaid, and you were obsessed with that song. Besides, it's not like I give random boys my number everyday." Percy was speechless, she'd basically just admitted that she liked him. Plus she knew who Sebastian was, it was like a dream come true. At this very moment Piper came in looking for Jason, finding Percy opening and closing his mouth like a fish she mouthed one thing at him "girl?" To which he nodded frantically. With that she took the phone off him and began to handle the situation in a way only Piper knew how to do.  
"Hi, this is Piper, Percy's friend. He's a little shocked at the moment, in a good way of course, and would love to talk to you but he needs to recover first. Would you like to: one, leave a message, two, hang up now, or three, plan to meet up." Percy couldn't hear the answer but Piper was beaming as she hung up. "I assume you can do Saturday at six?"  
"Sure, how. How... How did you manage that?" Piper shrugged.  
"Every girl just wants to know what the hell's going on, just like you, so you just tell it to them straight and take it from there."  
"Wait a sec," Jason jumped up, "What did you say her name was again? Annabeth... I swear I've heard that name before." Piper and Percy looked at him expectingly, "Got it, Thalia's friend. Tall, blonde, pretty, smart, blue. No, grey eyes." Percy nodded to all these things and opened his mouth to say something but Piper had already whipped out her phone and was texting.  
They had been waiting for no more than a minute or so when Thalia raced in, "Piper told me this was an emergency so whatever you've got to say better be good," Thalia's pale face was slightly flushed and she was trying to catch her breath. While she did this Piper filled her in on the goings on of the last half an hour or so. "No way, Percy and Annabeth? I'm not sure, she's really smart Percy. She would probably be ready to strange you after talking for any more than thirty seconds."  
"Hey, I'm smart."  
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Thalia brushed this off impatiently, "but she is properly smart, like, she reads Ancient Greek for fun smart."  
"Well I think they'd be cute together so Thalia, if you've got nothing nice to say, you can go." After having just ran all the way from her house Thalia was not exactly over the moon when Piper shoved her out but was later found in the kitchen making pancakes for herself so it could have been worse.

**Bit of a dull ending but hey. Thank you for actually taking the time to read this.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Looks like my little one shot is no longer a one shot. I have to say that I do really enjoy writing it though(plus I can pretend for a while that I have no homework). Any help you can give, suggestions of people you want me to put in, anything, will be read and noted. **

Percy's nerves couldn't stand much more of this waiting. He was meant to be going out to the cinema at six, he was waiting for Annabeth to phone up and call the whole thing off which Piper kept saying wasn't going to happen. Even Thalia was reassuring him, talking about how much Annabeth had said she had been looking forward to that night. They had all decided that it was best for Annabeth not to know that Thalia and Percy were acquainted. And so Percy waited, and waited, and waited. This was how Jason found him at half five. By then Percy was on Flappy Bird on his phone, making little yelps every time he died;which was a lot.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Jason walked into the room with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking altogether too cool with his superman top and hoodie. Percy on the other hand had muddy jeans on and a t-shirt that had probably never seen an iron in its life. "You're not seriously going dressed like that are you?"

"Why, what's wrong with it? We're only going to see a movie."

"Yeah but..." Jason paused for effect, "you're going with a _girl_. She wants you to at least look clean and right now you couldn't even manage that."

Percy scowled, "Since when were you the date expert?"

"Since I've been dating for about five months." With that Jason shoved him into the bathroom and picked up where Percy had left off in Flappy Bird. Ten minutes later Percy emerged, he had already tried to leave; once after two minutes and again after six; but Jason said that he was not coming out until he no longer smelt of... Whatever that weird smell was that seemed to hang around his room. So when Percy came out with a new t-shirt on and some clean jeans Jason was satisfied. At ten to six Percy headed out, he was meeting Annabeth at the cinema but wanted to be early; instead he was late because he got off at the wrong station on the tube and had to walk back the way he'd come. When he got to the cinema he stopped behind a crowd of people. To one side of them he could see Annabeth. She was wearing a blue skater skirt and a white shirt; looking around for him. He stayed out of sight for a second longer, just watching her; blonde hair swishing this way and that as she turned her head. He started to walk up to her but she didn't see him and gave a sigh before slowly walking off in the other direction.

"Hey, Annabeth, wait."

"Oh," she turned in surprise and smiled at him. "I thought you weren't coming."

Percy shrugged sheepishly, "I got off at the wrong station." Annabeth laughed and they both made their way into the cinema. Percy studied Annabeth out of the corner of his eye as they queued up for tickets; she didn't have any makeup on which either meant that she wasn't making an effort or that she just didn't wear makeup. Percy hoped it was the second one.**(what I mean by that is not that I don't like people with makeup on, just that Percy hoped she was making an effort, if you get what I'm saying,)**

"Did you know that in the word queue eighty percent of the letters are redundant."

"Hmmwhat?" Percy managed, she had interrupted his daydreaming with a pointless fact and if school was anything to go by he was no good at processing facts.

"Oh yeah, and the sentence '_she told him that she loved him_' still makes grammatical sense if you put _only_ in it, anywhere**(it really does, try it!)**"Percy smiled, more at the way she was looking at him than what she was saying, sure it was interesting but she was way more so.

"Cool," he tried to sound fascinated but instantly knew he had failed from the sag of her shoulders and the way the corners of her mouth drooped slightly. "I mean, sure it's interesting but facts aren't really my thing. I can't concentrate at school and stuff so don't take it personally."

"Gosh, thanks. That makes me feel so much better. You're comparing me to Mrs Cassen and then telling me not to take offence. Wow." The sarcasm in her voice was so thick that Percy literally ducked away from it.

"Sorr... Wait, how do you know who my teacher is?" Annabeth was left speechless, stuttering and mumbling, twisting her finger through her hair and not quite looking Percy in the eye. "Did you, did you ask about me? Wait don't tell me, Thalia?" Slowly Annabeth nodded.

"How do you know Th..."

"Look darlings, you two, do you want tickets or are you just going to stand there and argue. Come on, make your mind up. I don't have all day!" They turned to find a very angry cashier of about their age with dark brown ringlets glaring at them. Her brown eyes flash with annoyance and as Percy ordered the tickets she kept flicking her hair, her bracelets making a jangling sound every time she did so. Suddenly she looked at Percy really hard. "Wait a sec hon, I swear I recognise you from school. You hang out with Jason don't you?" Percy nodded.

"Oh, your Drew aren't you. I remember now." Percy said, she smiled at him, showing off her perfectly white teeth and then looked at Annabeth with her eyebrows raised before handing them thir tickets and ushering them on.

Annabeth scowled at Percy. "You know her then?"

"Nope, no clue who she is, it just said her name was Drew on her badge and I thought that she would never let us go if we she didn't like us so I gave it a shot." He grinned at her and her scowl evaporated. "You haven't watched The Princess Bride have you? Only this is a reshowing of it, it's a really old film but I love it." Annabeth shook her head and they went in. Her hand got closer and closer to his as the film went on but she didn't want to seem pushy. The same thing was happening to Percy and they were about half way through the film **(in The Fire Swamp for anyone who really wants to know where**) when their hands met and slowly, shyly, they held on to each others hands until the end of the film. When they walked out both of them were so animated that a spectator might believe them to have known each other for years.

"How have I not seen that before now!"

"I know right, didn't you love the bit where..." The two of them just sat outside the cinema waiting for Annabeth's mum to pick her up, oblivious of everything else that was going on around them. Talking as if their lives depended on it.

They were interrupted by a loud horn beeping. "Shoot, that's my mum." They ran over to Annabeth's mum. She was the spitting image of Annabeth but with black hair instead of blonde. She glared at Percy and looked him up and down. "So, you're Percy Jackson then. Well I'm going to make myself quite clear now, I personally don't want you to have anything to do with my daughter but as her father thinks that she needs to socialise more I am giving you the benefit of the doubt. Understand." Percy felt kind of scared of Annabeth's fierce mother but couldn't help himself all the same. He stood to attention and did a mock salute.

"Yes Ma'am," Annabeth bit back a grin at this.

"I'll see you at school then Percy," she said before her mother could retort and closed the door of the car.** (th****e two of them go to the same school but it's huge and until now they had never really seen each other before.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we are then, third instalment(finally). If anyone has any ideas as to where I could go with this if love to hear them as I'm not going to lie, I haven't planned this and it is currently just being made up as I go along. Keep reviewing and stuff. Enjoy.**

"How did it go? How did it go? How did it go?" Percy was bombarded as soon as he closed the door. He shrugged and opened the fridge. "Ahh, man, was it that bad?" Jason's shoulders slumped.

"No, I'm just really hungry," he said, taking a bite of an apple as he did. "Hang on," he paused; "have you been waiting here the whole time?"

Jason coughed and laughed unsteadily. "No, what are you talking about, I haven't been waiting, that's ridiculous..." He trailed off under Percy's gaze. "Ummmmmm... Yeah. I've been waiting."

Sighing, Percy allowed a small grin to find its way onto his face. "In answer to your question, I think it went well -" seeing Jason's face light up and his mouth open, he hastily continued, "BUT we'll see how it goes. For gods sake, it was one date!"

He walked back to the fridge and started rooting around for the leftover Chinese that he and Jason had shared a couple of days ago. Jason followed him. "Yeah, but you like her, right?" He persisted.

"I... Yeah, I do."

Jason fist-pumped the air and ran out of the room, shouting, "I'M GONNA CALL PIPER!"

"No you're not, because Piper's right here." She strolled into the room and raised her eyebrows. "Jason Grace, you told me you were busy doing homework, not waiting for Percy." Jason spluttered and started moving backwards slowly. Percy decided now was the time to make a quick escape.

"I'm just going to um, go pee," Piper didn't even turn round as he dashed out of the room. Phew. He sat learning against the door in the bathroom, the door locked, and got out his phone. He could still hear the two of them arguing; well it was more Piper shouting at Jason and him trying to cool the situation down.

"I texted you an hour ago to ask if you were free and you replied that you 'were busy'..." Percy sighed. Piper and Jason having a domestic was nothing new. They had one at least once a week and it had sort of become routine really. "...Might as well be Percy's boyfriend the amount of time.." In fact, Percy was pretty sure that Piper had once accused Jason of fancying a brick. In Jason's defence it was a very nice brick though. Once the shouting had died down Percy went in and saw them laughing together. All was well. "Percy, how was the date then?" Pipers question caught Percy unawares and he grinned to himself.

"We'll see, she goes to our school y'know." Piper jumped up.

"No way. How come I haven't seen her before then?"

"You might have done, I don't know. It's not like our schools tiny or anything though so I doubt you'd remember. Oh and Jason, do you know someone called Drew? It's just she was our cashier and she mentioned your name."

"Ugh," Piper shook her head, "Drew is vile. She picks boys up and then drops them as if they were chocolate bars; as soon as she's finished one she'll go on to the next one," they carried on in this manner for the next hour or so, chatting about anything that came to mind. The only thing that Percy thought would make it better would be if Annabeth was there.

**Two days later(Monday)**

Percy kissed his mum on the cheek and climbed out of the car. "Bye, see you later" she drove of and Percy grinned. Today he would see Annabeth again.

"Hi Percy,"

"Hey Percy"

"Percy,"

People greeted him as he walked past. Most of them he knew but some he had only vauge recollections of ever seeing. He got into class and dropped his bag on his seat. Back row of course. He then picked up his phone and texted Annabeth:

_hi r u in school yet _he waited and his phone buzzed again a couple of seconds later.

_Not yet but nearly. Where do you want to meet?_ He grinned and they quickly agreed on a meeting place. He was on his way there, it was the library to be exact, when he saw Nico walking his way. Blushing bright red Percy slipped into the nearest classroom. It wasn't that he didn't like him but Nico told him that he had once had a crush on Percy and while Nico seemed to be completely over him Percy couldn't get over the while idea. He had totally thought that Nico and Jason were a thing; though on reflection Piper wouldn't have been to happy about that. Anyway, now Nico was dating Will Solace, one of the hottest boys in school. Not that Percy was gay or anything but if he was he would SO go for him. Once the coast was clear he strolled back out of the classroom, well, tried to. "You're... Peter? Perry?"

"Percy," Percy turned round to see a short red head sitting cross legged on a desk, a bright, slightly tattered, scarf keeping her hair off her face. He ignored her and reached for the door handle. "Where are you going." He didn't answer and tried to open the door but the handle was jammed. "I wouldn't bother trying," the little red head said matter-of-factly. "I got Leo to mess with it and now it only opens if you twist the handle a certain way and push the door." Percy immediately started trying this. "Only I know the right way to do it. And Leo I suppose. It's so I can have this room all to myself, no one goes in here anymore because they know that they can't get out. Apart from you that is." She jumped off the table and Percy noticed that she was even shorter than she looked while sitting on the table. "But I think you coming in here was an accident, wasn't it? You were avoiding someone." Percy jiggled at the door again. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare," she held out her hand and Percy shook it tentatively. "Come and visit me again some time, and bring whoever you're obviously in such a hurry to get to now." She twisted the door in a way that Percy couldn't fathom and opened it. He practically ran out of the classroom and made a mental note never to go in there again. He continued to make his way to the library and walked in quietly, to do otherwise would have been certain death thanks to the three librarians who were constantly on patrol. He saw Annabeth at a far table with her head in some novel or other. Slipping into the seat beside her he whispered: "whatcha reading?" She turned her head quickly but relaxed slightly when she saw that it was him.

"One sec, just let me finish the page." She hadn't answered his question but then again; Percy thought; she probably just hadn't heard it. Too absorbed in the book. He stared at her as her eyes darted across the page, flickering from side to side as she read and didn't bother to say anything when she turned the page and carried on as if he wasn't there at all. By the time she finally put the book down; seven pages after she said she would, Percy was almost disappointed. He had liked being able to study her while she was unawares(however stalkerish that may sound) because she couldn't stare back. He had gotten used to the one piece of hair that wasn't quite long enough to fit in the ponytail and how it would slip out from behind her ear and brush her cheek before she subconsciously put it back in its place. And the crinkle of her eyes that signalled a funny part of the book. Now however her eyes were wide and clear and her eyebrows slightly raised; expecting him to say something.

"Um, hi." She gave him a brief smile in response and then continued to stare at him. "I was wondering if you wanted to go on another date. You know, the same kind of thing, or um. Or different if that's what you want." He stopped there as she'd began to stand up.

"Due to my lack of social life I'm free everyday of the week so I have no preference but would Wednesday be good? We could go to a bowling alley quite near my house."

"Yeah, sounds great." He smiled as she pushed her chair in and started to walk away, "oh, can I invite Jason and Piper. Just some good friends." These words got the attention of the three librarians and they all started heading towards him.

"Sure, so long as I can do the same." Annabeth walked out of the library, her school bag banging against her legs, leaving Percy to deal with the three librarians, all of whom were getting closer and closer...


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry that this one is so random, I _need_ ideas people! I don't know where I'm going with this. Anything will do, I'm not fussy but I need something to work with. Please...**

That could have gone worse, Percy reflected. Admittedly it couldn't have gone MUCH worse; it's not like the librarians could kill him or anything but three detentions wasn't exactly ideal. Originally it had been one detention but then the three of them started arguing about which of them got to give him the detention, making more noise than he had in the first place, so they compromised by giving him a detention each.

"Percy?" His history teacher stared at him with her eyebrows raised and her arms folded. "Well, what's the answer then?" He looked around for help but none of his friends had history with him so there was no one to help.

"Er," he looked at the board to get some clues as to what the question might have been about. "Nope, no clue." His teacher rolled her eyes in an exasperated manner that he was used to before continuing with the lesson.

"Well what I was talking about Percy was the Trojian war and how the line between what is myth and what is fact has blurred over the years..." Percy stopped listening again, there just seemed to be way too much going on to worry about whether or not Achilles was real or not. The only time he didn't zone out during school was at lunch, which incidentally was next. As soon as the bell went he packed up and left, ensuring that his teacher was busy talking to another student and couldn't reproach him for not paying attention. He met up with Piper and Jason in the long queue to get into the canteen, none of them bothered with greetings, instead Piper stared ranting about her maths teacher who had given them all loads of homework just because Drew had been caught on her phone in class. This rant continued till they reached the front of the queue where it abruptly stopped and they looked at what was on offer.

"Is that even meat?" Piper whispered to Jason as they stared at the lumpy brown sauce with thick chunks of what the menus insisted was beef.

"It looks more like something that'd come out of the back end of the cow than the cow it's self." Percy pointed out and opted for the safe option of pasta. Once they had sat down at their usual table they were about to start eating when the short red head that Percy had encountered before sat down next to Percy.

"Hi Percy, how are you? I see you didn't go for the beef, I don't blame you, neither did I." His surprised was echoed on the faces of both Jason and Piper, no one else tended to sit at their table, or at least no one who they didn't already know. Then came another one, he was short with dark curly hair and eyes that seemed to flicker this way and that, looking at everything that went on at the same time. He dumped his tray next to Jason and started tapping his hands on the table, drumming out an uneven rhythm. "He's Leo." Rachel Elizabeth Dare said before picking up her fork and starting to eat with no other explanation. He grinned, his teeth looking bright white in comparison to his tanned complexion.

"Hi." He stared eating too and soon they had all tucked in but an awkward silence hung around the table, the only sound being the constant tapping of Leo's fingers against the desk. Soon Leo started whistling too, random notes, sometimes parts of songs but always out of tune. "Right well, as interesting as this has been I have to go now as I've got an appointment to go to, well, a detention to be precise." He got up to leave.

"I'll come with you then," Percy said, half reluctantly. Though the idea of spending any more time with Leo, who's constant rhythms and beats had started to annoy Percy, was unappealing the thought of having to sit at the table in silence was more so and he did have a detention to get to. Both of them walked out the hall and Percy saw Annabeth in the lunch queue and smiled at her, she grinned back and then carried on talking to Thalia.

"Annabeth Chase?" Leo looked surprised and slightly in awe. "You like Annabeth?" Percy shrugged slightly and nodded. "Man, that's braver than I could be. I mean, she's probably really nice and everything but I've always found her sort of terrifying." Percy smirked, feeling for some reason that it was an achievement to like Annabeth.

The two of them carried on down the corridor, slouching in the way that all boys seemed to, shoulders hunched, hands in pockets until they reached the detention room, handing in their respective slips they sat down. Percy swung back on his chair and looked around the room. The door opened again and Nico came in. Percy nearly let go of his desk in surprise and his chair wobbled precariously. Not because it was a surprise to see Nico with a detention; his constant disregard for any homework set for him made Nico a regular but because he was wearing a red jacket that seemed to shine in comparison to the rest of his black and very dark grey attire. Percy thought that he had regained his balance and swung back once more only to actually let go of the desk when Nico turned away and the back of his jacket became visible, the word "WILDCATS" printed across the back. His chair tipped backwards and Percy felt all eyes turn to him as he frantically reached for the desk knowing it was too late...

CRASH.

That was the sound of a plastic chair hitting the floor.

THUD.

That was the sound of a Percy Jackson hitting the floor.

"Uuuuuugggghhhh," Percy rubbed his back and groaned. Nico looked at him in surprise before offering out his hand and helping Percy up. "S'your fault man. That jacket." Nico grimaced.

"Yeah, it's Will's but I borrowed it."

"But, the back of it..." Nico's face was blank, "you do know there's something printed on the back right?" Nico tore the jacket off and scowled.

"Now I know why everyone's been laughing. I'm going to kill Will next time I see him." Nico muttered. Percy picked up his chair and brushed the dirt off him bum.

"My butt really hurts," he declared before rocking backwards on his chair once more, whistling _do you want to build a snowman_ as he did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Next instalment(yay!) thank you to everyone who has favourited this, I was NOT expecting it, and double thank you to all of the people who have reviewed, it's really cool to know that ACTUAL people are reading this. I'll try and add the next chapter soon but I have quite a lot of stuff on at school so sorry in advance if I don't. **

"So, should we go in?" Percy asked Jason as they stood outside the large, ugly, 1970s style building that housed the bowling alley. They could see Annabeth inside with her two friends, one was Thalia and the other was a guy, tall with curly brown hair and a beanie. They chatted to each other, oblivious to the two boys staring at them from behind the glass doors.

"No, course not. We should just stay here the _whole_ night and stare at them. Come _on._" Piper pushed through the two of them in an exasperated fashion before grabbing their wrists and dragging them after her. "Percy, please don't do anything stupid like last time." Jason sniggered as Percy blushed at the memory. Last time he'd let go of one of the bowling balls and it hit a girl who was walking past in the stomach. "Don't know why you're sniggering Jason, remember that time when you threw the ball too soon and it hit the pinsetter**(I think that's what it's called)** while it was still putting the pins in place. Hmmm, I thought so." Jason grinned sheepishly at her.

"Hi Percy," Annabeth walked up to meet them and, to Percy's surprise, gave him a hug. "You must be Piper." She grinned at Piper, "And you're Jason?" Both of them nodded. "This is Thalia as you guys know, and this is Grover." Thalia raised her eyebrows at them to acknowledge their presence. Her hands were shoved in the pockets of her black jeans but she took them out when Annabeth introduced her.

"Hey weirdos. Jason, did you remember to lock up cause dad said he wouldn't be back till late."

"Um, no, I think that was YOUR job."

"Well how was I expected to lock up when you hadn't left yet?" The two of them started a good natured argument, elbowing each other as they walked towards the desk.

"Hi," Grover awkwardly walked next to Percy who was suspiciously watching Piper and Annabeth, the two girls had struck up a conversation and were talking animatedly to each other.

"Hey, um, do those two look look like their getting on WAY to well for people who just met?" Both of them strained to hear what the girls were saying as they walked off in the direction of the loo together. "I bet they're talking about all the stupid things I've done."

"Probably," Grover nodded in agreement. The he paused. "Wait, what have you done?" Percy put his head in his hands.

"More like what haven't I done?" He groaned "I've done just about every stupid and embarrassing thing possible. Yes that includes farting in class and dropping my lunch tray on a girl. She got pasta sauce all down her front and to this day she won't talk to me, and _Piper_ knows about all of it." Grover patted Percy on the back consolingly and the two boys followed Jason and Thalia over to the desk and collected their bowling shoes.

**15 mins later (I didn't want to bore you with them all trying to find a pair of shoes that fitted etc.)**

"Strike!" Thalia punched the air and everyone else rolled their eyes. They had only been playing for a couple of minutes but Thalia had already got four strikes, Annabeth had got two and Piper had one. The boys however, had nothing. Grover had been close to getting a spare once, close... "Right losers, I'm going to get a drink. Anyone else want one?" Everyone made their various requests and Thalia sauntered over to the bar. The rest of them carried on playing. Percy accidentally threw one of the balls into the neighbouring lane and had to apologise to a very angry short man with a tiger stripped shirt and Hawaiian shorts on. Annabeth laughed so hard at this that she slipped over and dropped her bowling ball. By the time Thalia was back they were all red faced and panting from laughing too hard. "Drinks." Thalia announced and from under her jacket she produced six beers.

"How did you manage to get those?" Annabeth stared incredulously at Thalia who smiled innocently.

"I know the guy at the bar." She glanced back towards a tall tanned man with curly hair and a playful smile, he winked at her. "So, who wants one?" Grover declined, Percy shared one with Annabeth (he didn't much like beer but wanted to impress her- this didn't work as he scrunched his nose up every time he had a sip), Piper and Jason had one between the two of them. This left Thalia with four for herself and she didn't hold back.

By the end of the night her perfect record of the beginning was long forgotten due to her repeatedly forgetting where the carpeted floor ended and the bowling lane begun and walking one step to far before slipping over on the shiny wood of the bowling lane and dropping the ball which would then roll painfully slowly down the lane. Still, despite this they all left in good spirits. Jason declared a race back to the cafe outside which they were all being picked up; Annabeth and Percy declined, choosing instead to walk back together and Percy smiled when Annabeth took his hand and squeezed it. As they walked along the pavement Annabeth pointed out different consolations in the sky and he made her laugh by making others up: "I swear if you look at it from here it looks like a goldfish!" As he looked over towards the others he smiled and in that moment, Percy reflected, everything was as it should be. Jason, Piper and Grover were laughing at an unknown joke on the other side of the road-waiting for them to catch up, Thalia was skipping towards the three of them whistling as she did and Annabeth was holding his hand.

A glaring light ended the moment and Piper screamed.

They say that everything goes into slow motion or that you can see it happening before it does or that time stands still. Percy didn't know who _they_ were but they were wrong.

Thalia turned just in time to meet the black BMW full on, for that one moment it illuminated her face in all its beauty, Piper shrieked her name and the car brakes screeched but it didn't make a difference and Thalia's tall form crumpled onto the bonnet, there it lay for a second before slipping off and onto the tarmac beneath.


	6. Chapter 6

**I know I know I'm sorry it's so late. I would like to pretend that it's because I've been revising for my end of year exams but I haven't. I'll try and get the next one to you sooner though(TRY being the key word there).**

They'd only let family members ride in the ambulance with her. The rest of them sat on the side of the road, nobody moved, no one said a word. Percy stared at the ground where Thalia had fallen, there was no trace that she'd ever been there. No blood, no tyre marks, nothing. Piper wept silently, her shoulders shaking as she did. Annabeth was clutching Grover tightly. Her face was pale and her beautiful grey eyes seemed clouded with shock. Now and again she'd let out a gasp and reach out towards the road as if the scene was still going on, as if there was something she could do. Grover would bring her arm back down slowly and she'd clutch him even tighter.

There they stayed until Piper's mum arrived to pick up, all smiles and jokes, only to see her daughter's tear stained face drop in disappointment when she saw who was in the car. She had expected Thalia to appear, laughing at them, teasing them for falling for it. They all did. Instead all they got was Piper's mum; she couldn't bring Thalia back could she?

"Get in, all of you." Piper's voice was thick with tears but she explained the story to her mum as best she could before telling her where the hospital was and that there was no time to waste. As Piper's mum drove them she looked at Percy through her mirror- he was staring at Annabeth helplessly. He wanted to be able to do something for her but he just didn't know what. _Comfort her _Piper's mum mouthed in the mirror, it took a while but Percy got it and put his arm around Annabeth's shoulder gently. Annabeth flinched away from his touch as if he had the plague and put her head in her hands. They spent the rest of the journey facing away from each other, each trapped in their own thoughts.

The hospital was like any other: tall, intimidating and with an air of hopelessness to it. The lady at the desk was business like; she directed them to Thalia's ward and then carried on working. Jason was standing outside the ward leaning against the wall, Piper ran to him and they embraced. "It's going to be okay," he promised her though you could tell that he didn't believe it any more than she did. "The doctors say she's got spinal injuries and nerve damage for certain." Jason's voice was monotone, as if he was simply repeating their words without fully comprehending their meaning. "As well as possible brain damage from the fall." No one wanted to ask what that all meant; whether she'd survive. Annabeth took Percy's hand as they walked in and his heart leapt- despite the circumstances- but then Annabeth looked up at him.

"Sorry, I thought you were Grover." She whispered, not realising the impact that her words had, thinking only of how much she needed her best friend right then. The five of them crowded around the girl in the bed, surrounded by tubes and papers, she looked like she could be asleep if it wasn't for the ugly bruise forming on her forehead from where she had hit the ground. They stood there for a moment in silence before Grover's phone buzzed. He looked down discreetly, glanced back at Thalia and hugged Annabeth.

"I have to go, I'm sorry." He turned to Jason, "call me if anything changes." With that he left, the door swinging shut behind him. Next to go was Piper, who's mum insisted that she couldn't stay there all night. Then Percy's mum texted, concerned that he hadn't been waiting like he said he would be. Percy was reluctant to leave Jason and Annabeth alone, he doubted that either of them would go home for a while yet, if at all, but there wasn't much he could do so he nodded to both of them, took one last look at Thalia and walked out.

"Hi mum, I'm at the hospital... No, I'll explain in the car... I'll be waiting outside... Love you. Bye."

**NEXT DAY**

Percy gave his mum a quick peck on the cheek before dashing into school. All evening Wednesday he had waited for news, he checked his phone every five minutes but nothing came through, it was like he had imagined it all. He pushed the classroom door open and dashed in but Jason wasn't there, he was late in today so Jason should have been here by now. No one payed him any attention as he dumped his bag and headed back into the corridor. Why is it the only time you need someone you can't find them anywhere. After wandering aimlessly for a couple of minutes he turned in desperation to classroom 432 where he knew he'd find Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

She was carving a weird pattern into the table with a compass and then colouring it in with pens. "Whatcha think?" She didn't look up but as there was no one else in the room so Percy assumed she was talking to him.

"Uhhh" he edged closer so he could see the picture- it was a pair of eyes surrounded by stars and spirals and other crazy patterns and above it were the words I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE REALLY GOOD AT HEART. "It's good, what's that from?" He gestured to the words at the top of the desk in swirly writing.

"Anne Frank's diary. It's beautiful don't you think, the way that someone can believe that even after everything that's happened." There was an awkward pause while Percy tried to think of a reply, he came up with:

"Won't the teacher be mad that you drew on the desks?" And instantly he regretted it, she had been expecting something deep and meaningful and had instead been reprimanded for drawing on the desk.

"It'll be fine, he's got no proof, it may even go unnoticed for a while, give the unlucky stinkers who sit here a chance to think for once. So anyways, that brings you back here?"

"I was just looking for my friends and I wondered if you might know where they are..." Even as he said it Percy realised how weird he must sound, why on earth would this strange little girl in a tie-die tee shirt who has probably been in this room all morning know where his friends are unless they'd just happened to walk past at the exact same time as she had looked up. Percy tried to work it out but couldn't come up with any logical reason, he'd come in on a whim, there was something about Rachel Elizabeth Dare- she just seemed to KNOW things.

"Not a clue sorry."

"Oh, um."

"Is that Annabeth you were looking for?" Leo had come in unnoticed and grinned as Percy turned in surprise. "I saw her go into the library with Piper and Jason just before." Leo walked towards them, he looked pretty smug with his hands in his pockets but then he tripped over Rachel Elizabeth Dare's school bag and narrowly avoided falling flat on his face. The smug look evaporated pretty quickly after that.

"Thanks." Percy nodded and hurried off to catch Annabeth. Well, he got as far as the door and then had to wait for Leo to open it for him.


	7. Chapter 7

**I know that this chapter is tiny but I promise, I have already written the next one and will post it as soon as I've posted this about it being so long since I posted. Keep coming in with the reviews and stuff. They're awesome and really keep me motivated. EnjoY**

When he got to the library Percy found Annabeth sat with Piper and Jason, they were talking in hushed voices at the back of the non-fiction section. "Hey, how's Thalia?" Percy slipped into the empty seat next to Annabeth and the conversation stopped instantly. Jason shrugged.

"Same as she was last night, they still don't know whether or not she'll wake up. We're going to see her straight after school."

"Could I come too?" Percy asked, already getting out his phone to tell his mum he'd be late home but the table was silent. He looked up at the three of them, Jason and Piper were both staring at Annabeth who was staring at the table. He reached out for her hand but she pulled it away.

"Look Percy, I'm not saying that this was your fault in any way, shape or form but..," Annabeth wouldn't look him in the eye, "I can't do this anymore, I know we're not even properly going out yet or anything but it just seems wrong, my best friend is lying on a hospital bed with possible brain damage and we're _together."_

_"_It's not a crime." Percy whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

"Its just... Every time I see you Percy it makes me think of the accident, I should have been looking after her, she'd had to much to drink and I was her best friend, it was my _job _to keep an eye onher_. _But instead I was talking about the stars with you. And don't get me wrong I loved it, but I can't do it when I know that it's my fault that Thalia is lying on that bed." At this the other three all started arguing with her but she silenced them with her hand. "Well, it feels like my fault anyway. What's the point of a best friend if you don't look out for her? what's the point in a boyfriend when you can't look at him?" There was a silence as Percy struggled for words, in the end he just nodded and got up to leave. As he walked out he heard Jason running up behind him.

"Hey, Percy." He ushered him out of the library before the librarians heard them. "Look, I'm so sorry bro. I mean, I know that you liked Thalia too and everything but Annabeth was her best friend, just give her some time. Maybe it's best if you don't come along tonight, you know." Percy opened his mouth to tell Jason in no uncertain terms that he wanted to see Thalia just as much as anyone else when he saw the dark shadows under his eyes and the crease in his forehead that hadn't been there before.

"It's alright dude, I get it." Percy turned away and walked off, leaving Jason to go back to Piper and Annabeth.


	8. Chapter 8

**See, I said I'd post it straight away. Hope you enjoy.**

Now what? Percy didn't really have any other close friends at school, he'd never really thought he'd needed any, what with being so close to Piper and Jason. Obviously it wasn't that they weren't his friends anymore but right now Annabeth needed them more than he did so he'd just have to leave them alone for a bit. He was lost in thought as he wandered through the corridors, bumping into people as he went, no one really payed him any attention though, just telling him to "watch where he's going".

"Sorry. Oh, hi Percy." Percy snapped out of his daydream. He'd just bumped into Will Solace.

"Hi Will, sorry, that was my bad. How's things" the two of them were in the middle of the corridor with people trying to get past either side.

"Not too bad, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"No, not at all. Can we walk and talk thoug, my bag's in form and lessons are about to start."

"No problem, look it's just... Nico's been acting kinda odd lately. Like, he'll be all moody and sullen and..." The two of them started walking once again and the queue of students behind them were able to continue.

"Nah, that's what he's always like, you get used to it."

"No but then he'll just randomly do something totally unNico like and ... Giggle." Percy grinned and opened the classroom door, Nico DiAngelo _giggling, _now there's something he'd like to see. "Or he'll cuddle up to me or something, don't get me wrong I'm not complaining but he's never acted like this before."

_"_Well it seems to me that you have done something that no one else has been able to do for a very long time. You've made him happy." Percy thumped Will on the back and picked up his bag. Just as Will was about to leave to go to his own form Percy stopped him. "Hey, would you mind if I kinda, hung out with you and Nico for a while, it's just that there's a thing going on and I'm trying to keep my distance from Annabeth for a bit."

"Sure man, no problem. We have third lesson together right? I'll see you then."

Lunchtime

This was a _terrible_ idea, Percy reflected as he sat opposite Nico and Will who were jabbering away about goodness knows what. Well, Will did most of the talking while Nico butted in every now and again . "Don't you agree Perc?"

"What yeah." _Perc? Since when did Nico call him Perc?_

"No way, Nico, think about it, how funny would it be to go as Mario and Luigi."

"But Percy agreed with me, it's Halloween, the costumes have to be scary."

"But picture it, we could even get ourselves miniature cars! And Percy could go as Princess Peach!" Percy laughed at this before seeing that Will was deadly serious. There were two weeks to go before Halloween and Will Solace was not one to turn up in a costume he'd thrown together the night before, unlike Percy.

"Um, I think you'd make a better Princess Peach, you have got the right hair colour." The two continued to argue, Nico throwing broccoli to emphasis each point while Will angrily munched his carrots and deflected the broccoli with his fork. Percy looked towards his normal table and saw Jason, Annabeth and Piper getting up to leave, he caught Piper's eye for a second as she turned his way. She gave a small smile and went to put her tray away. Percy glanced back to find Will and Nico both staring at him.

"You alright Percy?" Will asked him, looking concerned.

"Yeah, fine."

"I get it if you don't want to tell us but what it going on if you don't mind me asking?" Nico looked towards Jason and Piper who were leaving with Annabeth between them.

"Something happened to Jason's sister and now Annabeth's blaming herself and seeing me makes her feel guilty. In a nutshell." The silence that followed lasted way too long for Percy's liking.

"Sorry," Nico looked down at his plate and started picking up the bits of broccoli that were strewn all over the table.

"S'not your fault Nico, forget I said anything alright? It was nice to have other stuff going on to distract me." But Percy could tell that he'd completely killed the mood and it wasn't until he got home later that he remembered Nico's sister Bianca who had died years ago in a skiing accident while on a school trip along with her friend Zoë. _Idiot _he scolds himself but there was nothing that he could do about it short of turn back time, a skill that he had not yet acquired. The night wore on and at eight Percy called Jason to see if there had been any progress. "Hey bro." Jason answered in a cheery tone.

"Jason, have you got news then? Is she alright."

"Kinda, she's awake and stuff, she can't really move much more than her head and she's lost most of the feeling in her legs but dude," Jason sighed with relief down the phone, "I thought it was going to be so much worse. She doesn't seem to have any brain damage at all." Percy almost cheered in delight but that would have been embarrassing and his mum would have come to ask him what was up which would take a load more explaining.

"Can I, can I come down?" There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"I dunno man, Annabeth's still not in great shape. She's in there with Thalia now and, oh, she seems to be crying, man that's awkward. Uhh, how 'bout you leave it like two more days." Percy wanted to shout down the phone that he wanted to see Thalia too, that he knew her too and maybe he just wanted to see _her_ (though it would have been a bonus if Annabeth had been there too) but he didn't.

"No problem man, I'll see you tomorrow then." He hung up and grinned, realising that it might all sort itself out in the end. That very moment he received a text from Will Solace:

'Any news from Jason?' He replied that Thalia was on the mend but that Annabeth still didn't want to see him. Then his phone binged again:

'This calls for oparation get Annas breast back!' Percy frowned and turned his phone off, it binged a minute later for the final time that night:

'ANNABETH, I MEANT ANNABETH. Damn autocorrect.'


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry. I'm rubbish at this whole regularity thing. Thanks to the people that have sent me stuff asking me not to quit because that really did motivate me but sorry it's taken so long all the same. **

"Right gentlemen, and lady, as you all know a couple of days ago Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase looked well on their way to becoming the cutest straight couple in this school, take note of my use of the word _straight_, this prevents them having to contend with Nico and me for top spot." Percy looked around the classroom and wondered how this had happened. Will Solace was pacing back and forth at the front occasionally waving a ruler at them to emphasise his points. Nico was sitting on a chair next to Percy picking Will's blond hairs off his black jacket while looking mildly disinterested, Leo was behind Nico on the desk creating what seemed to be a working miniature aeroplane out of the contents of a pencil case. Finally there was Rachel Elizabeth Dare who was sprawled across three desks watching Will through a curtain of red hair that drifted forwards everytime she breathed, doodling on her arm. "That is obviously no longer happening, or so Annabeth thinks!" Will's voice brought Percy back to the matter at hand "We know otherwise though and I have come up with a plan A, B, C and D to ensure Percy and Annabeth get back together." Will paused for an applause and looked disappointed when he didn't get one.

"The plan?" Percy prompted him.

"Yes, the plan. Umm. Right!" Everyone jumped at the shrill note in his voice and he grinned. "The first plan is simple. Percy, just try and get her back." With that Percy was shooed out of the classroom wielding flowers and chocolates. He looked like a complete idiot wandering the corridors with a massive bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates twice the size of his head, this was a fact pointed out to him by most everyone he passed.

"Hey Jackson," Clarisse called out as she passed, "Valentine's Day was seven months ago."

"Ahhhh Percy, if I'd known you felt that way I would have never gone out with Katie" Travis joked before being shoved into a locker by said girlfriend.

He wandered up and down the school, from the unknown territory of the music classrooms(he had played the trombone but taken the hint and given up after his teacher came into the lesson with ear defenders) to the well traveled floors of the canteen. At last the bell called an end to Percy's searching for the morning and forced him into Geography.

"The Grand Canyon is 446 kilometres long, up to 29 kilometres wide and attains a depth of 1857 meters" Percy yawned and doodled on his desk, "so unless you're superman I wouldn't suggest leaning too far over the edge." The whole class gave an involuntary wince at Mrs Shaw (the Geography teacher)'s 'joke'.

"Dude, was that meant to be funny?" Percy muttered under his breath, Jason grinned and, imitating Mrs Shaw's squeaky voice replied: "these cookies have a high calorie count so unless you're the Cookie Monster I don't suggest you eat them."

"This text book has a large number of sums so unless you're Einstein I don't suggest you read it." Percy retorted. This broke the ice that had been building up since Thalia's accident and by the end of the class they had forgotten that it had ever been there. "Dude when are you next visiting Thalia?" Percy asked as he packed his books up.

"Tonight I think, if the doctors let me. You can come if you want."

"Awesome bro!" They fist bumped at the door of the classroom and then turned to go their separate ways. Percy walked into his English class and stopped in his tracks, causing the girl behind him to drop her bag as she bumped into him, she picked it up, grumbling, but Percy didn't hear her because sitting there in front of him Annabeth was unpacking her books. Percy marched up to her desk, determined to speak to her, concentrating all his masterful skills of wooing into this one moment... He coughed to get Annabeth's attention(a barely audible, weak, little "ehem") and then lost his nerve and scuttled to his seat. The lesson was then spent staring hard into the back of her head and willing her to turn around, meaning he nearly missed the teacher calling his name. "Present" he sat up quickly in his seat.

"This isn't the register Mr Jackson, the lesson has in fact been running for the past half an hour if you'd care to join us. Anyway, as I was saying: Mr Jackson would you mind explaining to us why Mr Darcy, from Pride and Prejudice in case you've missed most of the term so far too, first takes a fancy to Elizabeth Bennet?"

Percy's neighbour casually underlined a page in his book and pushed it towards Percy, who glanced at it before answering with a confused certainty.

"On account of her fine eyes?"

"Quite right Mr Jackson, and what other information is given to us in this quote?" Without glancing down for help Percy answered, more confident this time.

"The colour of her eyes Miss. They're a stormy grey." He accidentally caught Annabeth's eye for a second and she blushed.

"Alas Mr Jackson, it was for her quick wit though that is not directly quoted. I fear that we were pushing our luck when you got the first question right, we should have stopped there while we were on a high." With that the teacher continued the lesson as if she'd never stopped to interrogate Percy in the first place.

"Thanks man," Percy elbowed Charles Bekendorf,who clearly knew more about Pride and Prejudice than he was letting on as he had just saved Percy's lunchtime from detention.

"Hey Percy," Bekendorf said slowly, "you know, I've noticed that Annabeth has grey eyes." He paused there, letting the awkward silence build up between the two of them.

"Does she, I never noticed." The shrill note in Percy's voice probably gave away that he was lying but Bekendorf didn't pull him out on it and they both returned to their work.

"Annabeth!" The lesson had ended and she was packing her books up. Percy thrust the flowers, slightly crumpled from being in his bag, and the chocolates, of which he had only eaten one(and not even one of the nicest ones!) at her but she pushed them back at him and shook her head.

"Sorry Percy but I'd just like to give it some time. I don't think it's going to work." Percy began to protest but Annabeth just shook her head and walked out.


	10. Chapter 10

**I've updated *cheers quietly to herself in her room wondering how anyone can bear to read her fanfic with its irregularly sized chapters and distressingly long breaks between chapters* thank you for coping with my inconsistency.**

Percy's breath caught in his throat at the sight of Thalia. The bruise on her forehead had faded but still stood out against the pale face on the pillow. And her hair; it had been cut away from her forehead in clumsy chunks to allow the doctors to find out if there was any internal bleeding. "That bad huh?" Thalia looked at Percy who tried to straighten out his startled expression so as not to upset her. "Well? You going to say anything or just stand there like an idiot?" You know what, Percy thought, Thalia could take it.

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything but the whole greeny purple bruise thing you've got going really isn't your colour."

"Says you, jeans and a hoodie? I could be dying for all you know and you couldn't even be bothered to make an effort to look smart... I'm not" she said, seeing Percy's shocked expression, "dying that is. I'm not going to die- well not in the near future anyway."

"You might want to take that back, mum hasn't spoken to you yet, there was a major delay on her flight back from the business trip, but once she finds out exactly what happened well... I wouldn't like to be in your shoes." The two of them turned to see Jason and Piper standing by the door, Jason had a smirk on his face as big as the bruise on Thalia's forehead and twice as ugly. Piper raised her eyebrows at Percy's being there but didn't say anything. Percy couldn't tell whether that was good or bad. At the mention of her mum Thalia swore quietly and frowned.

"Dam, got any ideas for a cover story? Preferably one that doesn't include me owning up to drinking and then, well, running in front of a car." There was a silence in the room and they all looked at each other cluelessly. "Nothing? Ah man I'm screwed." No one disagreed. "Thanks of the support guys! What am I meant to do now? Tell the _truth?" _

_"_Yeah, why not?" Piper shrugged, the other three all turned their heads slowly to look at her.

"Well in case you haven't noticed words don't _flow off my tongue _like they seem to do yours. Besides, have you _met_ our mother? She'd have a fit and send me to a nunnery or something!" Percy sniggered at the thought of Thalia as a nun. "Well, you do like the colour black." He pointed out unhelpfully. Thalia glared at him.

"There has to be a way around this just, give me time and I'll think of one."

"Well you have until tonight" Jason opened the door and they followed him out. Thalia's response was muffled by the sound of the door slamming but the swear words were still clear enough for a tall dark haired nurse with a sour expression to look at them disapprovingly as she passed.

"Is she really coming back tonight?" Percy asked once they had scurried out of the nurse's sight. Jason snorted.

"Gods no, she said that the next plane isn't for at least three days," Percy looked at him incredulously**. "**What? It was Piper's idea!" Percy turned to ask Piper but she just walked on ahead of them briskly. "Yeah, sorry dude. She's still worried about Annabeth and stuff and is kind of mad at me for not telling her you were coming." Jason looked at Percy sheepishly and they ran to catch up.

Later that day

Percy leant back against the headboard on his bed and sighed. He threw his pen at Jason, who was sitting on the floor doing some geography homework using a hard back book as a desk- despite the fact that Percy's actual desk was less than a meter away from him."I'm bored." Jason ignored Percy's whining. A red biro hit Jason on the shoulder. "Do you want something to eat?" Next the rubber bounced of his knee. "How about one of those nice cereal bars that my mum bought the other day!" A pencil landed in Jason's hair, he stopped writing and shook it out before continuing once more. "Why are you being so booooooooring" Pencil sharpenings found their way into Jason's blond hair and then the sharpener itself followed. "When I say the word panda pillow pet what's the first thing that comes into your head?" Percy waved his panda pillow pet in Jason's face. Silence. "I know! I'll make a rap up about you!" No reply. Percy began to beatbox(badly):

"Jason Grace.

Is a disgrace

And he has a stupid face.

He. Is. Really boring

And he does... Uh... Alotof snoring?"

"That. Was. Awful." Jason finally put down his pen and Percy whooped in delight.

"Thank. Goodness." He declared, "I had run out of things to throw at you from my pencil case." Percy dived off the bed and onto the floor, neatly following into a forwards roll. The whole thing would have looked very impressive if he hadn't hit his head on his bedroom door as he came up from the forwards roll. This resulted in him lying on the floor groaning in agony as Jason assessed his level of pain.

"Are you bleeding?" Percy checked his hands for blood before continuing to groan.

"Noooo but it huuuurts."

"Do you need to go to hospital."

"Nooooo but it stiiiill huuuurts."

"And are you going to die." Percy stopped groaning and looked up at Jason with wide eyes.

"Yes" he whispered, "everyone dies in the end. Life is just preparation for death, years and years spent avoiding the inevitable."

"And how many sweets have you have?"

"Six packets of M&amp;Ms and three chocolate bars." Jason sighed, muttered something about philosophical Percy being the worst kind of Percy and threw a pillow at him. In an instant Percy forgot all about hitting his head on the door and an epic pillow fight ensued. The kind of fight that would go down in history: friends betrayed each other, this was difficult to avoid as there were only two of them; ambushed were set, again, difficult with only two but somehow it was achieved; and a great deal of pillows were thrown. It ended when simultaneously Jason needed to pee and Percy crashed after running out of sweets. He curled up on the floor in a ball and yawned. "Why doesn't Piper like me anymore." Percy asked Jason as he opened the door.

"Oh," Jason scratched his head and jumped onto the bed. "Well she kind of feels like Annabeth needs her more right now... I know" Jason said before Percy could argue, "that you've been her friend for longer and stuff but Piper thinks Annabeth needs a friend more than you, Thalia's accident really hit her hard." Silence descended and Percy frowned.

"Do you..." Percy hesitated, "Do you think Annabeth still likes me? As is, is it dumb to try and get her back?" Jason didn't answer for a second and Percy went red, wishing he'd never asked the question in the first place. Of course she wouldn't take him back, she probably hadn't even liked him in the first place she just...

"Nah, it's not dumb man, go for it. You know, Thalia told me, before she had her accident, that Annabeth _really _liked you."

"That's what I like to hear." Will Solace burst in, narrowly missing stepping on Percy's face as he strode into the room.

"How did you get in?" Percy sat up quickly and then regretted it as the lack of sugar in his system caused the room to spin around him.

"The door was _literally_ wide open." Nico followed Will in, hands in pockets.

"Well then Mr Grace, welcome to the GetPercyJacksonandAnnabethChasebacktogether club. Thank goodness you've joined us, our pal Percy here is in pretty dire need of assistance." Will shook Jason's hand vigorously while Jason was still spluttering in confusion. "Time for plan B."


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright people, here comes the apology, same as always, "yeah yeah" you say, "now hurry up so I can actually read the chapter". I'm currently in the middle of my exams (I actually have one tomorrow so could probably have timed writing this chapter better) and have been quite busy, so sorry, as usual. Oh and in reply to the guest who asked why Jason wouldn't let Percy see Thalia- Annabeth and Thalia were super close and Annabeth didn't want to see Percy as he reminded her of why she wasn't there for Thalia when she was hit so Jason prioritised Annabeth seeing Thalia over Percy as they were closer. Hope that makes sense... Enjoy?**

Will had made himself at home and was sitting on Percy's bed, using the back of Jason's homework to make notes. He pointed at Jason with his pencil. "Right. So, now you and Piper are in we can open our options up a little more. Piper can talk to Annabeth about girly stuff and all that which could give us an opening to..."Jason shook his head slowly and Will trailed off.

"Sorry man. Piper's not with me on this one. She's kind of mad at me actually, for siding with Percy over her and Annabeth." Will exploded (metaphorically obviously, to literally explode would be a bit of an overreaction- and very messy).

"What do you mean Piper's not here? But we neeeeeed Piper! I thought you and Piper came as a pair, like Jedward or Brangelina, or Solangelo!" Nico stopped picking fluff off the carpet and looked up, blushing as he did.

"What did you just call us?" The sickly sweet tone in Nico's voice hid none of his anger and Percy and Jason both edged away to avoid the infamous wrath of Nico Di Angelo.

"I'm lost, why's Nico mad?" Percy whispered to Jason who just shrugged and edged away even further. Will heard Percy's question and explained, taking on the same sickly sweet tone as his boyfriend.

"Nico here doesn't like our ship name. He thinks it's 'tacky' and 'predictable'," Will stood, with his eyebrows raised, hands on hips, and Percy was reminded why he used to be, well still was, scared of him.

"Yeah, that's because it is tacky, not to mention embarrassing."

"Embarrassing?! Well you were perfectly happy when it was Pernico weren't you? No complaints there."

"Whhaat?!" Nico stuttered in confusion at Will's somewhat random outburst. "That was never a thing."

"That was never a thing" Percy confirmed from his place of refuge underneath his desk.

"Well, it was kind of a thing," Jason pointed out from behind a chair, Nico threw a book at him and it hit the chair, causing it to topple backwards and fall on top of Jason, he swore quietly to himself while Percy sniggered.

"Wait Will," Nico shouted at his boyfriend's back as he stormed out of the room. Will stopped.

"This better be good, he muttered before turning to hear his boyfriend's explanation.

"Yeah it was a thing, but not a thing thing, it was a crush thing, I was like eleven. I didn't know any gay people to crush on, Percy was the closest I could get." There was a pause, "No offence Percy."

"None taken," Percy said grinning, still from underneath the desk, "did you hear that," he whispered to Jason who was still underneath the chair, "he said I was as close to gay as he could get. That's awesome, it's like I'm straight... and then some!" The whole room went quiet and both Will and Nico turned to look at Percy.

"I don't know what you saw in him," Will said and just like that the whole episode was forgotten. Will and Nico kissed and made up... Then kissed again... Then once more for luck. And then they went back to business. "Right Jason, as lovely as it is to have you onboard you are entirely worthless to me without your other half, so it's your job to get Piper on our side, she is crucial to our next move. If you want you can call on Leo for help, he has some lessons with her too." Jason nodded and gave Will a mock salute.

"Sure thing cap." The group disbanded and left Percy alone in his room. He lay on his bed and wondered whether Annabeth was really worth all this trouble. Yes, he concluded, she most definitely was.

The Next Day

"There she is" Jason winced at Leo's not so quiet whisper as Piper McLean entered the classroom with her familiar braids, combat boots and, fortunately for the longitivtiy of Jason and Leo's mission, a pair of headphones in; rendering her deaf to Leo's comments. Jason and Leo watched from the corner of the room as she went to her desk and dumped her school bag on top. She then sat down and took out her phone. Leo elbowed Jason and he stood up, ready to go and talk to Piper. He pulled at the hem of his t-shirt and took a deep breath. He was going to be calm and sensible, I mean, it's not as if it's a big deal, just taking to his girlfriend like any _normal couple_ because that's what _normal couples_ do and they were a totally _normal couple_ who didn't fight over other people's relationships because that would be childish and random and totally unnecessary because they were a _normal couple_... But, if all else failed he had some flash cards in his pocket that he could refer to. He pulled them out surreptitiously and familiarised himself with the first couple of lines as he crossed the classroom.

HI PIPER *LISTEN TO HER ANSWER AND NOD AS SHE TALKS TO SHOW YOU'RE LISTENING* LOOK, I'VE BEEN MEANING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE SITUATION BETWEEN PERCY AND ANNABETH, LOOK I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE ON ANNABETH'S SIDE AND I TOTALLY RESPECT THAT BUT I...

He looked up to see Annabeth appear at the classroom door. That wasn't part of the plan."Annabeth!" Piper took her headphones of and jumped up to give her a hug. Jason froze in the middle of the classroom and spun around.

"What now?" He mouthed at Leo.

"AbortAbortAbortAbortAbortAbortAbortAbortAbort" Leo mouthed back, at least that's what Jason guessed he said, while he frantically shook his head and waved his hands around. Jason scurried back to Leo and the two of them grabbed their school bags and jackets and dashed out of the room. Jason crawled back in five seconds later and collected up his flash cards; which had fallen out of his pocket and all over the floor as they'd been making their escape. Meanwhile Annabeth and Piper chatted on, oblivious to Jason and Leo's dramatic exit.

"So" Leo stage whispered to Jason as they walked along the corridor, "how are we going to get Piper alone?"

"Good question" Jason whispered back. There was a long silence as the two boys waited for the other one to come up with an idea.

"We could..."

"No." Jason shut Leo off before he'd even started.

"But you didn't even hear the idea!" Leo protested.

"Yes but I knew it would be terrible and stupid and probably illegal too." Leo paused and thought about this for a second.

"Ok, well, it's at least two out of those three." By now the boys had halted outside the science block, this was where they parted ways, Jason to Biology and Leo to Woodwork. They were standing in front of the building bouncing ideas off each other, each as bad as the next, when the door next to them was flung open and Travis rushed out, holding his arm out in front of him a melodramatic, one armed zombie, a girl followed behind, grinning. Jason held the door open as she went through.

"What happened?" He asked as Travis hurried towards the office.

"He was balancing hydrochloric acid on his head and it fell off and tipped all over his arm. I told him it would happen."

"Katie, do you mind? I am in excruciating pain over here." Travis wailed dramatically, Katie grinned at Jason and shrugged before running after Travis. A plan came together in Jason's mind and he turned to Leo.

"Right, meet me here in 20 minutes, find some excuse to leave woodwork or something, got it." Leo nodded slowly.

"Yeah, wait, no, yeah whatever." He didn't question Jason and wandered off in the direction of woodwork.


End file.
